In January 1973 the North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service launched "Project OVERVIEW", a leader and problem identification pilot survey. The focus of the project was to gain additional information on county leadership structure and to identify current problems or issues facing counties. Leaders were systematically identified through a modified reputational approach. Information in this report was gathered from 7 counties, representing the 7 Extension Administrative Districts in the state. A response rate of 75% (511 community leaders) was obtained by a "mail back" questionnaire. Data for leaders included age, length of residence in the county, educational attainment, occupation, orientation towards community, and a measure of Flexibility-Rigidity. Since this data represented the first relatively large pool of recorded information on community leaders from rural areas, the analysis will be designed so that comparisons may be made with similar research conducted in urban settings. (KM)